Spoiler alert! This story contains surprise elements from Sunday's midseason finale of The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead closed the first half of Season 5 Sunday with a wallop: the death of the increasingly mature and able Beth (Emily Kinney).

The killing of the character, who had grown from a meek background presence when introduced in Season 2 to a resolute and even heroic young woman, devastated her fellow post-apocalyptic survivors, including big sister Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and virtual big brother Daryl (Norman Reedus).

"We want people to love these characters, so when we lose them, it's awful. It's painful," says executive producer Scott M. Gimple, discussing the deaths of beloved characters. " Losing Bob was horrible, losing Hershel was horrible, not being able to work with these actors is painful, but it's also part of the show. I'm sure more painful times are ahead. It is a zombie apocalypse."

Beth's demise overshadowed what otherwise might have been a celebratory gathering: the reunion of three survivor mini-groups that had split for various reasons after coming together in the aftermath of the escape from Terminus at the season's start.

Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and his fire truck saved the day at Father Gabriel's rural church, arriving just in time to fend off zombie walkers who threatened Michonne (Danai Gurira), Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Judith, his baby sister. They joined Abraham, Maggie, Glenn (Steven Yeun) and company, getting to the Atlanta hospital where Beth was being held just after she was killed by Dawn (Christine Woods), the officer in charge there.

Many fans are discussing the circumstances of Beth's death, including her attack on Dawn with a pair of scissors after the officer ordered Noah (Tyler James Williams) to stay at the Atlanta hospital. Dawn reflexively shot Beth in response, Gimple says.

Gimple, who calls Kinney and her performance "fantastic" during a post-episode interview on Monday, offers his thoughts on the situation.

"Beth was a strong person. She could not accept seeing Noah being taken back into that situation and seeing Dawn doing that seemingly for appearances, to look strong," he says. "If Dawn hadn't pulled the trigger, I'm thinking Beth had a good shot of taking her out. She knew Dawn's situation was fraught."

Viewers will see how Beth's death affects the others, including Maggie and Daryl, when Season 5 of the hit AMC drama resumes on Feb. 8.

"This event was devastating, crushing. It was painful and will be painful for these people for some time," Gimple says.

The survivors' leader, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), was on the shooting end of another death Sunday, when he killed Lamson, one of Dawn's officers who was trying to escape. Gimple says it echoes a scene in The Governor's storyline from the comic-book series.

As for Rick's state of mind in killing Lamson, "He doesn't want to take chances. It's a little bit more of shoot first, ask questions later," Gimple says. "It's all about the safety of his people and anything uncertain beyond that he wants to make certain."

The episode also featured the return of Morgan Jones (Lennie James), who was seen briefly at the beginning of the season. "There's a lot of questions there, but there was a pretty big answer, though. He has that map. At least he knows that Rick Grimes might be somewhere nearby and might at least be alive. At the very least, it's a bread crumb," Gimple says.

On Sunday's Talking Dead, the AMC analysis show that follows each Walking episode, executive producer Robert Kirkman said that Daryl is straight, squelching speculation about his sexuality, but confirmed that a gay character from the comics will be introduced in the second half of this season.

When the series returns, Rick and his wandering family of survivors will be together in Atlanta, but out in the open without a safe home. Gimple says they will be together for some time.

"Where does it go from here? They're trying to figure it out," Gimple says. "It will be answered quite quickly."